I am leaving the full sized pitchers my Sarracenia already have produced to photosynthesize. I'll cut those down like an iris to about 4-6" later on before I put them away in the garage. Creating new pitchers, just like flowering, uses a tremendous amount of energy. When you cut the new pitcher off, the plant should theoretically redirect the newly conserved energy to the roots which will ultimately be responsible for shooting up the new growth next spring. My logic may not be all that sound but I did it anyway as my plants have been incredibly stressed this year. The temps were just too high for them to have enjoyed a full growing season. I am relatively sure that my plants shut down to conserve energy when temps were in the 90's and above. I'm betting it's an adaptive trait. Probably one of the reasons why people growing in greenhouses vent them in the warm seasons so that heat doesn't build up. In my mind the same principal applies to temps that are too low... the plants go quasi dormant. Either way, they are slowing or shutting down so there is little or no transference of energy to the roots.
Here's hoping somebody more experienced than me comments on what I have done as I spotted some brand new pitchers being shot up and maybe I should leave them be even though it is rather late in the season?
Is this rationale off base?
I have no idea if your rational is off base. But I do exactly the opposite. As the colder weathe approaches I cut off the older pitchers and leave the smaller pitchers that have formed just recently. My plants now have pretty much stopped growing so no new pitchers are pushing up. Plus by cutting off the older pitchers it takes the majority of rotten bugs with it, so the smell is decreased.
Lauren-
Your logic is sensible. But please verify something for me. The area in your garage where you will be storing the plants is brightly lit with large windows, correct? If so then I would refrain from cutting off any green growth on your plants. Although it is true that the plants will direct energy into the root stock it is sometimes advisable to leave the green growth on the plant and allow it to naturally and gradually fade away so that the plant can utilize what little food they have produced and be nourished by the process. Sarracenia pitchers have a dual function of photosynthesizing and capturing the plants nutrients unlike iris leaves which only photosynthesize. This is one of the reasons the pitchers last so long on certain species/hybrids and so many are produced.
I wouldn't worry too much about any such growth on them for one simple reason. Sarracenia, for the most part, are confined to the mid to south eastern states and are accustomed to growing in very warm conditions. Without this 'heat' and sunlight to help them photosynthesize their metabolisims (sp) slow down. This is evident by the production of late season pitchers that are either smaller in stature than the summer growth or tall and spindly. Much of this new growth is inefficient as a trap, serving primarily as photosynthesizing leaves. One of the only exceptions is S. luecophjylla which sends up its best growth in the fall. I would never consider cutting these.
Of course all this depends on what has worker for you in the past. If you have not been growing mature Sarracenia for too long then I would seriously consider leaving as much plant material attached as possible. Try to leave your plants outside until your nights start registering 35-40 degrees F. My plants remain outdoors year round and experience everything from hard frost to frozen pots. Yes I even get freezing temps in January. I have never had a problem with the plants being subjected to these conditions.
Yes, large triple windows that are at least 6' tall on the east side of the garage and doubles on the west side. I have shelves in front of the windows to stash the plants. The exposure is eastern.
Oddly enough, the only plants I did not cut the new growth pitchers from were the Leuco and Leuco hybrids because their big push to grow seems to always be in the fall.
The mature pitchers I never cut back until they are brown and crispy for the reasons you mentioned above- "naturally and gradually fade away so that the plant can utilize what little food they have produced and be nourished by the process". I have noticed that they do still trap prey until the first frost even if half the tube is brown and crunchy so I know what you meant by the dual function comment. Iris and Sarrs that are outside in the ground all year round I have been cutting back considerably lower to about 3-4" as I don't want high winds uprooting them during freeze thaw cycles but the Sarrs that will be inside are out of the wind and are not vulnerable so those are left a little bit higher at about 6". I can't leave them much higher than that or I'll have problems getting them all on the shelves. Last year I cut both the Iris and the Sarrs back in early December after we already had a foot of snow on the ground and a few hard freezes. Interestingly enough I was going to leave the Sarrs out again this year until they were hit by a few good frosts again. One exception, the psitaccina I bring in earlier than the other Sarrs. They seem to be a tad less hardy. I wonder why that is?
This being said, it is only the new growth pitchers I had been nipping down to about 1". I have this gut feeling on this one but now question whether to give in to it. Too many of these plants were exposed to very high temps for extended periods of time over this past summer and there was a 7 week stretch where there was no growth at all. I've never seen that before. I'll allow what ever else shoots up to stay deferring to your superior judgment but I still have this little voice that says Mommy should be nipping them. We have that weird weather where one week we are using our ac and the next week the furnaces are on until spring comes. We are now using furnaces as temps at night are already dipping into the upper 30's and lower 40's while day time temps hover in the mid 50's. Fall has arrived.
Regarding what has worked for me in the past, can't answer. I have never been confronted with plants going into dormancy that were so stressed from such a horrible growing season. I never felt forced to make this decision before. New plants that I have just received in spring I always stop from flowering by nipping off the flower scapes. I do like the blooms but as I'm not into creating my own crosses, what's the point to letting them set seed? There are a few that escape me and I let those go but I generally get them all and especially on VFTs. Those plants are boring anyway as they all flower white.
You're on the right track. I knew you had a keen eye for taking off the crispy and leaving the green.
This was truly a brutal summer for me as well, although my plants never stopped pitchering. On the other hand they did so well I had to actually cut pitchers off just to thin them out. I added shade cloth to part of the outdoor growing area and boy did that make a huuuuuuuuge difference. The plants were far less stressed and they took a bit longer to color up so I was able to enjoy watching the process. Some of my best plants this year were grown under 50% shade cloth. Our summer sun here in California is super intense, so it actually is necessary to shade just to help cool them down.
I did notice though that several of my flava produced phylodia during the worst of the heat and then reverted back to pitchers when it began cooling off. Very strange. I'm sure they experience like conditions in situ, but it was interesting observing it in my own collection.
I can understand your intent to remove growth due to the stressful conditions they experienced. I hope they all pull through for you.
OK, I'm back to nipping all the new growth.
I used 30% shade cloth on my pings that were growing in an eastern exposure over the summer. I think this made an incredible difference. With what you said about 50% shadecloth over your Sarrs, I'm thinking I may need to check into that. I had moved them all over to the east side of the house in an attempt to shield them from the worst afternoon sun but it may not have been enough protection. It's wait and see time.
Yes, I have a strange premonition I may lose quite a few plants this year that just won't break dormancy. Say... didja have to add this, "they did so well I had to actually cut pitchers off just to thin them out"? I have never had to thin pitchers. But, there's always hope that I will experience this problem in the years to come.
Why do you feel psitaccina is less hardy? Mine grows as well as the purpureas out in the bog. Because it is prostrate the pitchers aren't even damaged under the snow. They do get a bit overtaken by the cranberries.
You know me, I don't remove anything that isn't dead and remeber that (as mentioned previosly) some species/hybrids such as leucophylla, rubra, etc put up their best pitchers in fall. For this reason I don't have any leucos. My r. alabamensis seems to do fine but the pitchers usually freeze to snow line in winter, and the spring pitchers aren't nearly as nice looking.
I'm renovating the bog I goofed on when building (I added oyster shell to neutralize ph for a "fen" type garden). This has turned into a giant grassy weed patch, so the native orchids that were there have been relocated and in spring I'm going to model this garden after the original bog (minus the cranberries...way too aggresive)
Here's the bog as of last week. Spiranthes in full flower, a couple of the spikes are over a foot tall, Orange leaves in back are (my crazy) poison sumac, and you can see all the pitchers that have fallen over from the top heavyness of the bugs they've caught (or been blown over by one of the hurricanes)
"Why do you feel psitaccina is less hardy?", because it never seems to grow well for me. It doesn't die but it doesn't do much of anything else. I had it by the S. purpurea. The purps doubled in size but the psitts did nothing and I think they even reduced in size. I took one in last year and that was the only one that actually grew this year. I figured I might as well take them all into the garage this year and not grow them in a bog. The other thoughts are that the critters got in that bog and rooted around underneth their roots too much and they couldn't handle that as well as the Sarrs and Drosera. I don't know why they aren't taking off as they should. They do seem to like it wetter than most CPs.
Sorry about your fen. Mine is ok so far.
I still think you're off your rocker for the poison sumac in your back yard but I did leave all of my poison water hemlock out in the marsh. It is very pretty when in bloom and it is a native. I also left a few poison ivy vines to fruit for the birds. I don't want too many of those around though because the kids have been building "forts" out there in the trees.
Your spiranthes look great!
Well I never said my S. psitticinas were huge. They are a rather puny pitcher plant.
Just wait on the fen. When I first put the fen and bog together,oh way back in '98 the fen was by far my favorite and looked the best for several years, then the bog took off (such as they do) and the fen became a grassy weed patch. Oh well the bog is much more fun and interesting anyway.
Hey at least my Poison sumac is male! Nice flowers great color in fall and no fruit for the birds to disperse! Unlike your poison ivy!
My fens are ok because I sit there with a 5x magnifying glass and a tweezers and pluck weeds out of them. My Dad stopped in out of the blue to visit once and caught me in the act. Now they all tease me.
Yes, the poison ivy does set seed but it's got those nice lipids migrating birds need to survive. I'll probably always allow a few to hang out here.